Starbucks Apologizes for Alleged Satanic Foam Incident

A Louisiana schoolteacher has stirred up a hot social media froth by accusing her local Starbucks of squirting the mark of the devil into one of her recent orders.

The Advertiser reports that the teacher, Megan K. Pinion, complained to the coffee company on March 30 by posting a picture of two coffee cups to the Starbucks Facebook page. Along with the image, which shows a pentagram written in the foam of one cup and a 666 in the other, Pinion named the location where she allegedly purchased the drinks, but wrote that she "unfortunately can't give the young man’s name who served it, because I was so appalled that I could not bring myself to look at him."

Continued the post, "I am in no way judging his beliefs or dis-meriting [sic] his beautiful artwork, I am however judging his lack of professionalism and respect for others. I am a teacher in the public school system and if I were to present a child of atheist or pagan believers with a Christian art project I could be sued in a heartbeat. I am of Catholic faith and would love to share in my beliefs daily. Fortunately I have enough common sense to present myself with professionalism and follow an ethics code. Perhaps that could be suggested to that particular location."

The post quickly spread, and the Starbucks social media team leaped into action; as a spokesman told the Advertiser, "We reached out to her through social media and apologized. We’re taking the complaint seriously. We’re not sure who served her or what kind of beverage it was. It looks kind of caramel-ish in the photos."

Even though they've been unable to verify Pinion's claims, the company has issued a formal apology. "We have sincerely apologized for her experience. This obviously is not the type of experience we want to provide any of our customers, and is not representative of the customer service our partners provide to millions of customers every day," added the spokesperson, who conceded that the incident could lead to an adjustment of Starbucks' foam artwork policy.

The report noted that Pinion didn't respond to a request for another photo of her drinks, and it's perhaps worth noting that according to some readers, a number of the follow-up comments on her original post said that the original image doesn't appear to match the decor at the Starbucks location where she claimed to buy them. Also, as another commenter noted, "Maybe it was a 999."

The American Decency Association, which recently announced a boycott campaign against Satanic Honey Maid graham crackers, could not be reached for comment.